@bavals

I am curious if anyone here is traveling while also working on their electronic music productions. I know there are a few “real” musicians here (respek!), but I am even more interested in finding my digital brethren.

If you’re out there, how do you manage to do it? Granted, it has become a lot more feasible in the past 5 years or so, but not entirely problem-free.

Do you have a more comprehensive set up at your home base that complements your mobile studio or are you 100% mobile? Do you have a MIDI controller in your backpack/suitcase at all times? What about the monitors? While we’re on the topic, would you maybe care to share your setup (DAW, interfaces, controllers, peripherals)?

Here’s my situation right now: MacBook Pro with Ableton Live, AKG headphones, a simple/tiny m-audio MIDI controller, an Apogee MiC for recording samples & voice. So far, nothing for the digital interface (apart from the built-in one) or monitors.

Anybody here who’s in love with good, expertly prepared coffee? How do you go about finding good cafés in the cities you visit? By “good” I mean not just the availability of several espresso drinks and wi-fi, but a whole bunch of things: arabica beans, good roaster, skillful barista who knows how to pull a good shot and steam milk correctly, etc.

I recently spent a month in Barcelona, meticulously going through a list of recommendations from… you know… the Internets. Mostly it was very disappointing. For example, I found no cafés that grind to order (in fact, there might have been one, but it was closed when I went by). People on various tourist forums rave about cafés that are frankly terrible in the important respect: the product. In the end, the best that I found in that city (after doing some Googling in Italian: I gave up on trying to find anything in English because it’s all marketing and SEO now) was Café Central near Diagonal. They use decent beans and know how to steam.

So my question, if this kind of thing is important to you, how do you research/find good cafés? Is there a web site covering many world cities written by people who are able to distinguish arabica from robusta?

P.S. I hope I didn’t come off as a pretentious elitist here. It’s just that I really really love me a good cup of arabica. It lifts my spirits and makes me more productive.